Illustrator: set corner point as default?

October 6, 2009 8:59 AM

In Adobe Illustrator, is there a way to make the pen tool default to corner points rather than curve points? It's a PITA if you're drawing something jagged (like a map border) and you have to click on every point that you set to make it a corner point.
posted by Mayor Curley to computers & internet (9 comments total)

It's been a long time since I used Illustrator, but I seem to recall that after you click and drag to create the endpoint of a curved line, while still holding down the mouse button, you can press the ALT (Windows) or Option (Mac) key to make it a corner. Is that what you mean? Otherwise, you could draw it roughly with all straight lines, and add corner curves later, all in one go.
posted by paulg at 9:16 AM on October 6

Clicking produces corner points, click-and-drag produces curve points. Am I missing something?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:17 AM on October 6

Or what paulg said - if you are click-and-dragging a curve and you're satisfied with the previous line's shape and the want the next handle to diverge from a straight line, hold down Alt (on a Windows machine) while dragging to change that handle's length and direction on the fly.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:19 AM on October 6

Let me clarify-- I'm drawing a curved line. I put down Point A and Point B. That's great. Now, if I want the next line formed from Point B to Point C to have it's curve independent from the one in A-B, I click on B before drawing the line.

When I do this, point B is merely the anchor and I can make any curve I want, or even a straight line. If I don't do this, the B-C line will bend and if I want to make it straight or have full control over it, I can't.

So I want the pen tool to act like I have set the point and clicked on it by default.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:41 AM on October 6

Is the Alt-method not what you're looking for for line BC to have its own curve independent of AB?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:52 AM on October 6

I'm using it on a mac. I tried the usual suspects for equivalents, but I'm not finding it.

I would like to know that keyboard combo, but if there's a way to set this as the default without the additional button pressing, I will kiss the person who tells me full on the lips.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:59 AM on October 6

MC, try this.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:02 AM on October 6

It took me a couple of minutes to parse what you're saying, because Illustrator's pen tool is pretty much designed to do what you dislike about it. When drawing something jagged as you described, I just click and click, without pulling out the curve handles so that straight lines are drawn. Otherwise, you know when you're with the next point, so that control how far you pull the curve bars to control the depth and shape of the next segment. Corner are for use when you have to suddenly go from a curve to a straight segment.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:35 AM on October 6

Yeah, like Brandon says, it's pretty much designed that so that if you're going to be doing curved lines, it makes every point have locked handles from both sides (i.e. smooth points). BUT, what I don't understand is that if you don't click and drag at all, all the points should be corner points (no handles).

Are you using a tablet where unintended motion of your hand as you touch the pen to the tablet are causing handles where you don't mean for there to be.
posted by Brainy at 1:15 PM on October 11